Monday, June 27, 2011

Obama Send Jobs to Brazil while Unemployment Soars

America has clearly been in an economic downturn for a while now. We obviously need more jobs at home, and we have spent TRILLIONS bailing out our own industries at home. So why would we send jobs building planes for our military to Brazil?

During a recent visit to Brazil in March, President Obama expressed his desire to become a “major customer” of Brazilian oil, and still remains opposed to drilling here, in America, to supply American needs. He categorically denies permits to Americans to drill in the Gulf of Mexico, but will give foreign permits to Brazil to drill. Is our own soil not good enough to drill on? Is gas not expensive enough? Where will the madness end?

Additionally, Obama seems to forget that our unemployment rate is hovering at about 10%. That’s right, folks, 1 in 10 Americans doesn’t have a job. So of course, it makes perfect sense for our President, who is supposed to be stimulating our economy, to send our jobs overseas. Is every American job expendable? Why is Obama sending our jobs overseas, to foreign nations?

We are now in a ‘green energy contract’ with Brazil, known as Memorandum of Understanding to Advance the Cooperation on Biofuels (MoU). They also expanded this to include aviation fuels, which is also another tie to Brazil, which can be problematic because of the issues regarding our aviation defense contracts, outlined below.

The U.S. Air Force is considering bids for aircraft to serve as counterinsurgency fighters and trainers for foreign partners. The plane in question is the Hawker Beechcraft AT-6, a light attack plane used widely by the American Military, VS the Embraer Super Tucano. Both planes are comparable, in cost and performance. It’s important that we look at the risk associated with a relationship of a country like Brazil that if awarded this contact, could possibly start supplying to Iraq and Afghanistan.

To put this whole matter in laymen’s terms, it basically comes down to a national security issue. If we buy planes from Embraer, we're putting the military in a situation where the government of Brazil can literally ground part of our air force by cutting off the parts if they so choose. That's especially relevant given that Brazil is not supporting us in Libya. They called for cease-fire just hours after Obama left the country. If Embraer were to get the contract, the government Brazil could more than tut-tut us, they could actually cut off parts we'd need for an American military aircraft in order to pressure us to accede to their will.

Then there's the jobs issue. Giving Hawker Beechcraft the contract would create 1400 jobs in America, while giving Embraer the contract would create 50 jobs in America and the rest in Brazil. I believe in free trade and not a protectionist, so I don't think that's a decisive factor. However, when we're talking about two comparatively priced planes that are going to be used for military purposes that should make us reluctant to get the plane outside of the US anyway, I don't think those jobs are completely irrelevant.

There’s also a secondary issue. The Hawker Beechcraft AT-6 would allow for roughly 95% of both the male and female potential pilot population with weights as low as 103 pounds and as high as 245 pounds to safely fly the aircraft. The old standards to which the Brazilian aircraft complies will prohibit 18% of military males and 81% of military females from safely ejecting from the aircraft in an emergency. This is both a national safety and security issue. Our military is voluntarily serving and protecting us is at risk. We are voluntarily placing jobs in a country with a track record of anti-American sentiment. We are entrusting these people with our defense.

Please take this issue to your proper representatives and let’s keep jobs in AMERICA!